


Leave Your Heart on the Court [discontinued]

by ZettaSlow



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Basketball, Gen, M/M, Major Character Injury, Rival Schools - Freeform, Sibling Bonding, concussion, knee injury
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-04-06 13:45:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14058252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZettaSlow/pseuds/ZettaSlow
Summary: Leo and his siblings are all prodigious athletes. He and his brother co-captain the Nohr Boys Basketball team, which has won several championships and titles in the past. It's Xander's senior year, and the team is looking to bring home another championship. But early in the season, Leo suffers a knee injury that leaves the future looking uncertain. He does all he can to help the team, which leads to a fateful encounter with their rival school's co-captain, Takumi of the Hoshido Basketball team.[discontinued]





	1. Pre-Injury

The teacher droned on and on about some formula that Leo stopped caring about ages ago. The classmate to his left scribbled notes down furiously, even the unimportant things the teacher said, because jotting down the teacher’s favorite TV show was so important. To his right his elder sister Camilla sat. She paid enough attention to take note of what will be on the next test, but under her desk she texts in some “girls only” group chat. It was easy to get away with because the teacher always had his back to the class when he wrote on the board, labeling complex equations and providing ‘try this!’ examples.

The notebook on his desk wasn’t one for the math class he sat in, but a compilation of basketball plays and scouting notes from rival teams. It was never too early to start thinking of strategy, especially because once the season got going practice days and days in between games would become more limited.

“ _I’ll just copy everything from Camilla later_ ,” Leo thought, thankful that he advanced in his studies enough to be in his older siblings’ classes. The trio had a nice routine to rotate who would take notes and do the homework.

Most people, upon first meeting him, would not assume Leo was a basketball player. Sure, he was pretty tall, not weirdly mind you, but he definitely wasn’t short. No, the biggest deter to him looking like a student athlete was that, as he so quotes from one of Camilla’s friends,

“You just look so overwhelmingly like an intellectual!”

In of itself, it was a valid point since Leo did value his studies and do his own reading in his spare time. But he applied his “intellectual mind” to basketball, something he was equally passionate about.

It wasn’t his own wish to join basketball. He started at an early age, because his elder siblings played the sport. It started as something forced onto him, but after a few years of playing, Leo liked it enough to stay. The years continued and because the three of them, eventually four when Elise started rec league, practiced with each other, they all came to be nothing less than prodigies.

Xander safely secured a full-ride athletic scholarship the end of his freshman year, and to quite the prestigious school. Camilla earned hers the middle of her sophomore year, and to a school just a few minutes drive away from Xander’s. Although neither became official until their Junior years, they both knew early on what schools they planned to attend on scholarship.

Elise, although she enjoyed playing with her siblings, didn’t have as much fun playing basketball with other people. She was using her freshman year to try out a bunch of different sports, though she was particularly fond of tennis at the moment.

Leo didn’t put much thought to his future. He had several schools giving him offers since his junior year started, schools that had watched him since his freshman year. Yet, there was a certain nagging in his brain that warned against him making any decisions. It was like he was waiting for something give him a push. Did he pursue basketball at a top college? Or go to a smaller one just for the scholarship? He had time, so he focused on the present season.

Right now, Leo focused on developing the strategy for their first game of the season. It was a home opener against an okay team, but being okay wouldn’t win them the game. Leo already told Xander as much, but his brother still pressed that they needed a report on them.

Xander did have a point. It was better to be safe than sorry, especially with all the pressure from the school on them this year. It was common knowledge that it was Xander’s last year, and the senior was not going to graduate unless they brought home another title for their school.

This year was the one where they finally take the trophy home. Leo smiled as he doodled a tiny trophy on the corner of the page.

‘ _For good luck_ ,’ he thought as he packed the spiral away. Class was ending in about a minute, so everyone started putting their things away and standing up. Leo did likewise, and finished just as the bell rang.

“Bye Leo dear, my practice will be a bit longer today, so you and Xander go ahead home without me.” Camilla ruffled his hair and waved goodbye as she turned down the hallway. Leo waved back, and walked to the locker room.

Some of his teammates were already gathered there, and they greeted him as they got ready. There was a conversation going on about some injury on another team, but Leo’s mind was going into focus mode so he barely listened at all. He finished getting ready, and head to the gym as they continued to gossip.

‘ _They better not be late like yesterday_.’ Leo recalls the stern talking to Xander gave them. And then the even more stern one after Niles had said “whatever makes you happy, daddy.”

Why they let someone like Niles on the team was questionable. His playing was great but his work ethic was continuously horrid. Leo shuddered as he remembered freshman year, the first time Niles saw him strip to change into his uniform, and he blew some sort of world record breaking wolf whistle.

Xander is the only one in the gym when Leo enters. He stood at the foul line, practicing his form. Leo picked up a ball from the rack and dribbled over to him. He purposefully dribbled louder than need be, hoping to mess him up, even if it would be pointless.

“I finished the stats for our first game, and it’s just like I said. The game won’t be all that exciting,” Leo said. Xander shot the ball, and expectedly it _swooshed_ through.

“Good for us. We’ll be able to give this season a strong start,” Xander commented as he looked at the rest of the team coming into the gym. “This is the best the team has ever been.”

“Yes indeed, brother,” Leo replied, as the other players entered the gym. Good thing too, any later and Xander would have had to yell at them.

* * *

Did the school announcements hold purpose anymore? How many students actually listened everyday? Leo didn’t care for them, mostly because none of the school events were ever all that interesting. Today however, Leo closed his book and listened with a smug grin.

“An outstanding performance by the basketball team, winning 93-34! Leading scorers included the brothers’ combined scores of 65! Xander scored a nice 22, but Leo had a whopping 43! Way to go team!”

Leo knew the reason he scored way more than Xander was because he received an elbow to the face, and when his nose started bleeding he had to be taken out of the game. Regardless, Leo had been on fire last night with his three-pointers.

Last night began the season for all the local schools. Lucky for Leo, that meant he had more information to work with when developing strategies and gameplans. In two days would be their next game, another home game, but it would be a true challenge.

Hoshido.

The two schools had been rivals since their openings. Each year the rivalry was just as intense as the last, and this year was no exception. Xander and Leo grew up playing against the Hoshidan captain Ryoma and his younger brother co-captain Takumi. What people struggled to understand was how personal the sport could be, and especially the kind of hate could develop from it.

Neither pair of brothers knew much of anything about the other, except for how they played and their game-time attitudes. Yet, upon seeing them, Leo felt the fiery rivalry between them. Especially Takumi. Same age and position led them to see each other a lot more, and nothing was more frustrating than the Hoshido vs Nohr game last year.

In math class, Leo watched Hoshido’s game from last night on his phone. It was the third quarter, and the opposing team was playing well, while Hoshido seemed to be having some difficulties. The score was at an eleven point difference, and both teams continued to play hard. However, one of the opposing players made a faulty pass Takumi managed to deflect and get a steal.

Takumi tore down the court, and he probably thought it would be a quick and easy two points, if not for the defender that was quickly catching up to him. The player made an obvious push from behind, and Takumi toppled over.

“Holy shit,” Leo muttered to himself.

“What? Is that the Hoshido game?” Camilla whispered, and leaned over to see. Leo rewound the video, and showed her the push.

Leo winced as he watched Takumi’s head hit the floor. Hard. Leo skipped ahead in the video to see if Takumi came back to play, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“That didn’t look good, check their team twitter,” Camilla urged him. All the teams had a twitter. It was the best way to find out the details and news of the teams, but also to be passive aggressive with each other during particularly tense times.

Leo looked on the Hoshidan account, and sure enough there was the condemning tweet.

‘Unfortunately one of our players suffered a concussion during our last game. We’re hoping for a speedy recovery! #HoshidoStrong #GrindNeverStops’

“Wait, this is from a few days ago, I thought the film was from last night,” Leo questioned.

“Yes, while you and Xander were so hung up on preparing for your first game, Hoshido started their season early. I had someone send me the tapes, I just got to uploading it last night,” Camilla explained. She looked at the tweet again. “Poor thing, concussions are so unpredictable, but at least that speedy little gnat can’t shut you down like last year,” she laughed and poked his arm.

“He didn’t, I just had an off-game.” Leo frowned and swatted her hand away. She gave one final poke before resuming her attention to the lesson. Leo and Xander really owed her for taking the bulk of work recently. He already felt the impending doom of a _Bring It On_ marathon as their form of repayment.

The game was two days away and even with the most minor concussion, Takumi would be out for a week. Leo shamelessly created a game plan that would exploit the weakness in Hoshido. Injuries are unfortunate, out of anyone’s control, but that didn’t mean everyone else had to stop playing.

* * *

Before the game started, Leo snuck a look at the Hoshidan bench. There sat Takumi. His lips were turned down and he watched his team warm up with a vacant expression. His hair was down, which left Leo staring for a moment. Perhaps the strain of a ponytail was agitating for the concussed individual? Leo felt a pang of pity for the other, and quickly returned to warming up.

A few minutes later, Leo’s eyes caught the captain of Hoshido walk over to the team bench and talk to Takumi. The brothers pointed out team members of Nohr, and Takumi’s eyes met Leo’s as he made a comment to Ryoma.

Leo averted his eyes. For as much scouting and observing he did himself, he hated being watched.

Warm-ups ended, and both team went to their respective benches. Leo felt buzzed as he listened to Xander speak. The gym was loud, and his blood was pumping. The second game of the season, and a highly anticipated game between rival schools.

Xander’s pre-game speech worked well to energize the team. That was something only Xander was good at, encouraging people to do their best like a true leader. Leo did not look forward to the next year when that would become his job. Being a team leader was not among his specialties, but on the bright side he wouldn’t have to work hard for respect of the team because he already held the position of co-captain.

“Let’s go out there and show them what we’re made of!” Leo yelled into their huddle. His teammates cheered and Xander began their chant.

“1, 2, 3, 4-”

“LET’S GO FIGHT FOR NOHR!”

The Hoshido vs Nohr game was the biggest game happening locally that night. Even though Hoshido was hosting, there was still a large part of the crowd dedicated to Nohr. The crowd cheered as the starters left the bench and walked onto the courts to take position.

Xander lined up to do the tip-off against Ryoma. He had 1 or 2 inches on the Hoshidan, so Leo slid into position that would give him the first shot of the game.

With a blow of the referee’s whistle, the game began.

Xander won the tip-off, and the ball met Leo’s hands. There was only one thing on Leo’s mind. To make a fool out of Hoshido. He and Xander talked before the game, and his brother told him Leo will not be making any ridiculous shots to boost his ego, but Leo argued that it would put an early nail in the coffin.

So, with two one dribble taking just over half court, Leo inhaled and eased into his form. With an exhale, he released the ball. The crowd’s cheering dimmed, and all his mind was focused on was watching the ball. It spun and rotated in the air, and at the end of it’s arc, it landed in the basket with a gentle _swoosh_.

All at once, the crowd roared and jumped on the bleachers. Leo met Xander’s exasperated eyes and shouted along with the crowd.

Beginning of the game, less than ten seconds passed, and the score is 3-0.

* * *

“It was a tough loss last night, but as in all games-” Xander began his pep talk the following day at practice, but Leo tuned him out immediately.

‘ _Wouldn’t be having this stupid speech if I had just made that shot at the end_ ,” Leo thought to himself darkly. The game had been surprisingly close. Leo fully thought that with Takumi out the game would be in their favor, but he underestimated the ability the replacement had, and the heart the rest of the team played with.

Both teams played with all they had. Neither made stupid mistakes, it was one team’s game to win, and the other’s to lose.

How annoying. Those types of games are the worst. You can never feel satisfied if you lose. Do everything right but it doesn’t work out? Something that is out of your control, left all up to chance?

‘ _Sounds like some stupid karma thing_ ,’ he bitterly thought. The Hoshido players packed a bigger punch than Leo prepared for. He made a mistake thinking they would play off due to Takumi’s injury. Instead they played harder.

When Xander finished his talk, the team drew in a huddle. They did their chant, and practice began. Everyone went about their business, the game last night having little impact on their playing, but Leo was having his share of difficulties. None of his shots were falling, and each time he dribbled he somehow kicked it off his foot.

His brother looked on with concern, but he knew Leo would not take to being confronted in front of everyone during practice. Leo knew it was understandable he was off today, but that didn’t lessen his frustration any less. It wasn’t an excuse.

After missing his tenth consecutive foul shot, Leo stormed out of the gym to get a drink of water.

At the water fountain, he tried his best to calm himself down. Logically, he knew Xander nor any of his teammates blamed him for their loss, but no matter how many times he told that to himself, his own shame weighed heavy on him.

Most of all, he felt insulted by that annoying long-haired _brat_.

It would be ridiculous to feel so shameful about missing one shot, but it was because that was the conclusion to the mistakes Leo made that game. First of all, his strategy fell through as soon as the replacement knocked down three three’s in a row. Some freshman named Hayato, as Leo came to find out. He had no data on him. He didn’t play in the first game, and Leo never heard of him before. Leo’s strategy was based off who he thought were the most likely candidates to replace Takumi.

Of course, Takumi knew that would happen. Leo felt the other’s knowing gaze on him the entire game, giving him something of a smirk. Takumi calculated Leo’s plan, and made his own to make him lose it.

And it worked.

By the end of the game, Leo was so mentally drained and irritated that he lost his composure and missed such an easy shot.

He walked back into the gym. He still felt irritated, but he pushed the thought of Takumi’s smugness out of his brain.

“Okay, let’s do the speed-shooting drill,” Xander called out. The team joined at the baseline, forming a line automatically. Leo slipped to the back, not ready to make a fool of himself in this drill.

The pressure of being the only one on the court and having everyone watch you was no problem for him. Normally.

“Leo, go first.”

Leo scowled at Xander. He remained in his spot, hand on his hip. The team looked between the two. Leo knew he was being immature, but he deserved some sort of break. Yet, Xander threw the ball at him and Leo caught it, begrudgingly walking to the front of the line.

“Leo,” Xander warned. Leo took a deep breath and nodded. Whatever, it’s just two shots.

Xander waved him to start, and Leo rushed down the court. He pushed the ball out in front of him, minimizing the dribbles, but maximizing distance and speed. He felt more control now, and he pulled up behind the three point line. He shot the ball, and it hit off the backboard and into the basket. First made shot of the day.

Leo collected the ball where it fell through the net, and ran to the other side of the court. Feeling a bit more confident, he stopped just a bit farther from the line, but by no means extreme. He felt the momentum in his body, feeling it gather in his legs as he came to a stop. The push from the ground, the form of his arms, the arc it would give the ball. His eyes focused on the basket and the ball.

And in an instant awful pain burned in his knee.

His mind halted in thinking, his eyes no longer tracing the ball, but now glued to the floor. He took a step with his right leg, but it collapsed under him. He hissed as he fell to the floor, grasping at his knee.

It shot through him, even as it was still, it burned him like fire. He heard Xander’s worried call, yells from his teammates, but the pain was so overwhelmingly present. Like he was stuck in a trap, steel thorns piercing into his knee at every angle. He tried to calm his breathing, but the knee throbbed so much his heart beat with it.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Xander asked from beside him. Leo opened his mouth but no words came out. He shook his head and motioned toward his knee. Tears welled up behind his eyes.

“I’ll get Shura,” Niles said, his voice tight. Xander nodded, and Niles ran out of the gym.

“It’s your knee? What kind of pain is it?” he asked gently. Leo bit his lip and shook his head again. If he spoke, he knew for certain he would lose whatever left he had of his composure. The tears still pooling behind his eyes. No, he wouldn’t cry. Despite the throbbing robbing him of his thinking, he refused to shed tears. His teammates all stood around him, confused, worried, scared.

Leo glanced up when the gym doors opened. Niles rushed in with Shura hurriedly jogging behind him. The trainer kneeled down and look at Leo’s knee, and gave a pointed look to Xander. The captain told the team to go take a water break, and he crouched down next to the trainer.

“Can you point to where the pain is? Is it your whole knee? Front? Back?” Shura asked calmly. Leo shakily hovered his hand over his whole knee.

“Xander could you go get two ice bags?” Shura handed him a pair of keys. Xander looked worriedly at his brother, but took them and left for the trainer’s room.

“Okay, can you try and tell me what happened?” Shura asked. Leo took a deep breath.

“I don’t know what happened,” he said carefully. Nothing happened. He didn’t land weird, nor did he jump off weird. Nothing twisted at all. Just as soon as he came down, or maybe it was while he was in the air, the pain hit him.

“What were you doing?”

“I was just shooting, and when I came down it hurt,” Leo said. “I didn’t land weird or anything,” Leo added quickly.

Shura remained quiet. He look at Leo’s knee, already swollen. His mouth was a straight line, his eyebrows scrunched up. Hesitantly, he began to speak.

“I can’t do any movement test right now without hurting you. Let’s wait and see if it feels better in the morning. If it feels the same I’d advise against going to school,” Shura explained. Leo closed his eyes, feeling a dark dread inside him.

It’s nothing, how can it be anything bad when there’s no cause? He’s fine. He’s never been injured before, so he’ll go to sleep and wake up perfectly fine. There’s no way he could actually be injured. His teammates are wasting their worries. Wasting time halting practice.

Leo opened his eyes. Xander entered the gym, Camilla and Elise running in behind him. Xander stopped by the team and said something Leo couldn’t quite catch. They put down their waters and walked to the opposite side of the court from where Leo was, resuming practice.

“Leo! Are you okay?” Elise slid down next to him. She looked like she wanted nothing more than to hug him, but she glanced towards his knee in concern. Camilla stood above him, her hair tied up and sweat on her body. She probably left practice to check on him. Elise’s hair was in its signature pigtails, and she was wearing her tennis skirt. So they were both interrupted their practicing to see him. It was sweet, but Leo felt guilty for cuasing a fuss.

“I’m fine. I just stressed it, I’ll be okay tomorrow,” Leo said with fake strength in his voice. He didn’t want them to see how overwhelmed he was minutes before. Shura began to wrap the ice bags on his knee. Leo winced as the pressure was put on, but he thankful for the cold.

“Leo, Camilla or I can take you home-” Xander began, but Leo cut him off with a frown.

“I am perfectly fine. I’ll just stay and watch.” Leo attempted to stand up, but he really just squirmed on the ground for a second, unable to do anything.

“Do not even try to get up by yourself,” Camilla said resolutely. “And don’t give me that pouty face either, dear.”

Camilla and Xander both carefully lifted Leo off the ground, and helped him to the side of the court. They helped him down onto a chair by the scoreboard. Elise sat on one next to him.

“I got enough independent practice for today,” she said, “I’ll stay with you!”

“And I have to be getting back to my practice. Be good Elise, keep an eye on Leo,” she pinched his cheek and he swatted her hand away.

“Stop that’s embarrassing,” he grumbled. Camilla smiled brighter, ruffling his hair. He narrowed his eyes at her, but she then excused herself.

Xander explained the rest of what he had planned for practice to Leo, to which he nodded and agreed that it sounded alright.

Leo watched the practice, feeling put off that he was sitting out. He didn’t often sit out, in fact the only times he remembered is when he was sick but still insisted on coming to watch. However, then he knew for certain that he would be back in a day or two.

“Oh Leo, turn that frown upside down!” Elise elbowed him lightly, taking him out of his thoughts. “I'm sure it's nothing to worry about!”

Leo sighed, but smiled at her, nodding. Of course he would be back. He had a strong body, and he’d always taken good care to stretch to avoid injuries. His entire family had a history of having strong bodies, so whatever this was, it would be small. How bad was something that didn’t have any cause? Maybe it was all in his head. Maybe he was still stressed out from the game before, and his head was making up some fake pain to give him a break. 

He tried to ignore the sound of his own voice mocking him inside his head. 

_"Injuries are unfortunate, out of anyone’s control, but that didn’t mean everyone else had to stop playing."_


	2. Pre-Recovery - ROUGH

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah sorry I'm not gonna finish this- but I had it planned out so here's if you wanna see that? it's. not edited. sorry.

The next day, Leo felt no better. The same pain flared in his knee if he dared move it even a single degree. He ignored the dark pool of dread filling in his mind, threatening to flood, and made to get ready for the day.

He jumped around, trying to be as quiet as possible. Jump to the closet, grab shirt. Lean against wall and put on shirt. Go into dresser, grab sweatpants. Leo put his bad leg through but then faltered. The other leg. He needed his other leg to be dressed. He glanced over at his bed, and jumped over. Sitting down he pulled the other pant leg up, just in time for Camilla to barge into the room.

“What are you doing?” she asked, skepticism written all over her face. Leo smiled as innocent as he could.

“Just getting ready for the day.”

“Uh huh, and that’s why you’re jumping around?” Camilla didn’t miss Leo’s smile falter. “We can hear you downstairs, dear.”

Leo cursed himself. He had tried to be quiet, but looked like that didn’t work out so well. Camilla left, telling him to stay put. Leo knew what would happen next.  It was all over- he really didn’t feel better. His swelling hadn’t gone down, and each movement of his knee brought on sharp pain. There was no way he could get around school unless he snagged a pair of crutches…

Crutches.

The trainer’s room had crutches. And the school administration had master keys. They could unlock the trainer’s room, and get him a pair. He wouldn’t miss any school over some stupid injury created by his mind.

With refound determination, Leo stood up. Keepin his leg at a particular angle, he was able to balance with it as he hopped back to his closet and grabbed a shirt. He thought about the rest of his morning processes as he got ready. Hair? It would be okay without brushing it, his trademark headband should keep it tame. Teeth? If he leaned against the sink while brushing then that would work out. Breakfast was downstairs, but he could crawl down. Socks and shoes? Well on one foot it’d be easy, but on the other… Well Leo wasn’t the most flexible and he couldn’t move his leg at all regardless.

Even with the limited movement he was doing, putting no pressure down except for small balance, he felt a rigid burn inside his knee. It would jolt through his entire leg, and he couldn’t help but wince. He’d be sitting all day at school, so it won’t be that bad. He had to talk to Shura at the end of the day, so it’d made more sense to go now in the morning with his siblings.

Camilla entered the room with Xander in tow. Leo had his back turned, but he didn’t need to see their faces to feel their disapproving eyes. 

“Leo, you’re not going to school,” Xander said. It was a command. Leo took a moment before answering. Stubbornness ran strongly in his family, and eventually one side or the other won, so if he chose his words carefully then he could prove to them he was fine.

“I have tests today. If I get crutches then I’ll be fine,” Leo lied through his teeth. Xander and Camilla only shared one class with Leo, so they wouldn’t know the truth about any make-believe test.

“We will explain to your teachers that you can’t walk,” Camilla suggested with an unnerving smile. Leo scrunched his nose up. When Camilla got like this, it was even worse than Xander trying to control his life. “They all know you’re a wonderful student.”

“It’s because I’m such a wonderful student that I will persevere and go to school,” Leo said with an innocent smile plastered on his lips.

“Leo,” Xander said with a stern look on his face, but there was a glint of resignation in his eyes. Everyone in his family was so damn stubborn, but Leo believed that he could give them a run for their money at the moment. 

“I need to finish getting ready, so could you both go downstairs and make sure Elise isn’t burning the house down?” Leo watched his siblings’ faces as his words sunk in. Finality took over the tension in the air.

Camilla’s eyes were drawn low, and her mouth pursed tensely, the sadness evident from Leo’s stubbornness. But there was also something else, in the way her shoulders were slightly hunched, and her arms crossed around herself. She was disappointed in herself for not being able to keep her brother safe. With all of his years of growing up with his sister, Leo knew that Camilla did hold herself to blame for his injury, no matter how illogical it was.

Xander’s face was hard, but Leo knew he won this battle.

_ Why is it such a big deal? _ a small part of him asked. Why was he so pressed to go to school? Not only would any kid hop onto a reason to miss school, but Leo felt doubt creep into his mind if he could physically handle the pain.

_ I’m not even injured _ , he argued with himself. It was stress. Just stress. He would feel even more stressed if he skipped school and missed his imaginary tests.

“I’ll go downstairs and help Elise. Xander is going to stay here and help you. That is not negotiable,” Camilla said. She took one last look at Leo, hoping he would change his mind, but when Leo gave a brisk nod and returned to getting clothes, she left with a sigh.

Xander and Leo shared no words when Camilla left. Leo put on a simple T-shirt with no difficulty, and with a bit of hip wiggling and twisting, he managed to pull on some sweatpants with only tolerable pain. 

In the bathroom, however, it was another story. The same pain swept over Leo even as he kept all pressure off his knee and leaned against Xander for support. He felt his face scrunching up and saw it in the mirror too. Leo stared at his reflection: eyebrows pulled together, eyes squinted, wrinkled nose. He focused on each spot and willed the muscles to relax, and somehow this seemed to ease the pain just a bit. Be it because it helped to hide he was in pain or simply the action of untensing his muscles Leo didn’t care. Xander was right next to him and Leo knew he was on thin ice.

He brushed his teeth quickly, not caring as much to be thorough. He was just about done flossing when he looked at his hair and remembered that he didn’t shower the night before. The sweat from practice would still be in his hair, and his body probably smelled too. 

“Xander, could you go get Camilla’s dry shampoo from her bathroom?” Leo asked, running a hand through his head and grimacing at the oily feel of it.

“Can you stand for a second?” Xander looked warily at his brother, as if the moment he took a step away he would crumble like a faulty jenga tower.

Leo didn’t even bother to reply, he fixed a hard glare at Xander until his brother moved away from him and walked to Camilla and Elise’s shared bathroom down the hallway. 

When Xander left the room, Leo let out a pent up sigh. Damn himself and his stupid stubbornness. And damn his stupid knee too.

‘ _ This is going to be a long day _ ’

* * *

 

Leo found himself in a much similar situation he was in just a few days before. He sat in math class, with Camilla on his right playing a game on his phone and the student to his right continuing his trend of writing down everything the teacher said. Leo should be writing stuff down too- it was his turn after all- but he felt restless. His knee throbbed with a dull ache still, and with an honesty he would share only to himself, it hurt even more than it did when he woke up.

At the start of the school day, Xander helped Leo into the school building. While each limping step hurt his pride, they managed to get crutches from the athletic office to use. Leo was hopeful that it would help him and lessen the pain, but crutching around instead jostled his leg around no matter how hard he tried to keep it still. On his way to the cafeteria for lunch, he ended up detouring to an empty stairway and sitting down just to try and convince himself he wasn’t in that much pain. 

Without the adrenaline and elevated heartbeat he had when he was playing basketball the night before, he could only feel the burning in his knee. At least when his hands were cold, his knee was so hot to the touch that it warmed up his hands. On the downside, it was swollen so much that Leo knew that even if it didn’t hurt to move he wasn’t sure he’d actually have a full range of movement.

So, due to the events that happened less than 24 hours ago, Leo was having quite the hard time focusing. He regretted not taking Camilla’s offer to do the notes for the class, but Leo had thought that having something to do would distract him. He was wrong, and now he felt guilty for taking such bad notes.

It was a relief when the class finally ended and the school day was over. He could finally go see Shura and figure out what was wrong with his knee. 

Camilla picked up Leo’s backpack without a word. He grabbed his crutches from beneath the chair and pushed himself off his seat. Leo quickly found out that maneuvering crutches through desks and chairs was a nightmare, so he opted to jump on his one leg until he was at the front of the room with a clear shot to the door. This action caused the sharp shooting fire to burn through his leg, but he reassured himself that they were on their way to Shura so it was worth it to be speedy.

That didn’t mean Camilla didn’t comment on it with disapproval, but Leo ignored her as they walked out of the room. Thankfully they were on the first floor so there was no need to seek out a teacher for an elevator key, but they were also on the opposite side of the building.

When they reached the end of the hallway their math class was in, Leo stumbled on his crutches, and though he managed to catch himself, he felt his knee lock up and even stronger pain pulse from it. He inhaled sharply and held his breath to try and gather himself, but he felt like his knee was tearing itself apart. 

“Leo!” Camilla cried and put a hand on his arm. Leo stared at the ground, breathing deeply and trying to gather himself, but lord did it  _ hurt _ .

He didn’t reply, and instead continued to crutch. The distance to Shura by now was nothing more than a short walk, but it seemed daunting to Leo who swore a new fire ignited with each step with crutches he took.

Shura’s room was crowded with other athletes. Some waiting to get their ankles or feet taped- others simply talking with the man and complaining about sore muscles. For as much as Shura puts on a rough exterior, the man was always willing to listen to others, and for high school athletes that was all that was needed sometimes.

However, when Camilla entered with Leo in tow, Shura shooed off the students from his room and motioned for Leo to take a seat on the cushioned table. 

Leo felt uncomfortable sitting on the table. Not physically at all, it was a nice table, but he felt emotional strain. It was less than 24 hours than his injuries, but a lot of time had still passed and he only felt worse. Anxieties creeped at his brain. Something was seriously wrong, right? This wasn't normal. He couldn’t walk. Oh god he couldn’t walk  _ at all _ . This was their winning season- could he play? It’s all just stress. He’s fine. He’s  _ fine _ .

He didn’t even realize Camilla had left the room until the closing door brought him out of his thoughts. Shura was fixing him with a worried gaze, and Leo became aware of how heavy his breathing had become.

“So, the same pain, right?” he asked.

“It’s more tolerable,” Leo started leaving the unsaid  _ but _ hanging.

“Ok, we’re just going to do some mobility tests to get a better grasp of what’s going on.”

If there was something that’s going on. He still held onto the hope that it was just stress. Nothing physical meant he could still play.

Shura began by rolling up Leo’s pant leg and examining the knee. Leo knew it was swollen, but it was covered all day and he barely looked this morning. It was huge. It looked like a baseball had replaced his kneecap. Leo flinched at the sight. That was not the product of mental stress.

The physician gently pressed by Leo’s kneecap, and each press hurt, but it was more like poking a bruise. Not bad. He could take it. 

“Do you think you could straighten your leg all the way?” Leo thought he had his leg all the way straight, but perhaps the swelling had made it so it wasn’t sitting straight naturally. He attempted to push his leg straight onto the mat, but stopped in an instant. The fire erupted over him again.

“This is as straight as it’s getting,” Leo muttered in agitation. Shura looked at him pointedly, but sighed.

“Well, I can say there is definitely something wrong. You’re guarding,” Shura explained. “All your muscles are tightening, even before I asked you to straighten your leg. With that and the fact that you can’t straighten your leg all the way, I’d say we’re not doing many mobility tests right now without hurting you.”

“I’ve dealt with it all day. I need to know what’s wrong- just do the tests,” Leo stressed. 

“There is only one I’ll try doing, just to confirm or deny a suspicion,” Shura said with patience. He had to have it if he was going to deal with high school athletes so much.

Shura lifted Leo’s leg into the air gently, trying to keep it as level as possible. He spared a pitying glance toward him, and pulled the knee towards Leo’s chest and pulled out again. Leo clenched his teeth together, and stared hard at the wall across the room. Tears pricked at his eyes, but he be damned if he cried from a simple movement.

And then it was over. Shura placed his leg back down without a word. He took a seat at his desk and began to write on a piece of paper.

“Well? Your suspicions?” Leo questioned. He watched Shura cautiously. He needed answers, but he didn’t know if he wanted to know what was wrong. He was angered with himself for being so contradicting.

“I can’t say for sure. I’m filling out this form and recommending you to a friend of mine at the musculoskeletal center.” Shura finished writing on the piece of paper. He handed it to Leo, sharing with him a small smile.

“It’s going to be okay. Why don’t you go to practice and help them out. Lord knows Xander can only handle those boys for so long,” Shura joked and helped him up.

There was no time for questions. He was ushered out into the hallway where athletes stood waiting. Their stares made Leo’s face light up with embarrassment. He crutched away as quick as he could, and realized that he lost his chance of pushing Shura for answers. 

Leo came to the gym doors, and stared for a few moments determining how to open them. He reached out and pulled the handle, and then jabbed a crutched in the doorway. He quickly pushed through the door. Okay, not so bad.

Practice was just beginning when Leo entered. It seemed to boys took just as long to get ready as usual, which Leo took as a happy good sign that morale wasn’t affected. Not that there was any reason for it to have been affected. He wasn’t  _ the _ team captain. Just the smart brother. On the sidelines, right?

Practice went by faster than Leo expected it would have considering he was only watching. He figured that actively participating would put all your focus into it and time would fly, but perhaps being tired also counteracted that. Everyone was sweating and out of breath, and Leo remained poised and unbothered. It wouldn’t be smart to show his doubts to his teammates. He needed to be strong, especially in the  _ extremely _ likely case that Leo was just hurting something as small as a stress sprain.

Keeping up the front around his siblings required more energy, but it was all the more necessary. He informed Camilla and Xander that Shura wouldn’t be able to provide a solid answer, and recommended him to a specialists. By that time it was too late to call for an appointment, so a reminder was set for the morning. With nothing more needed of him, Leo retreated to his room, feeling the strain getting to him.

He knew he was overreacting, but he also argued that didn’t he have some good reason to? No injuries in all his years. None from Camilla and Xander or even Elise. Leo scolded himself for getting so hung up over it, but the anxious fog in his mind didn’t lift. 

The anxiety remained present until much later in the night. Elise had long gone to bed. Camilla and Xander had definitely finished their homework at this time. Leo was the last one awake, and somehow this fact relaxed him. 

No need to pretend he wasn’t freaking out. He could let go of the facade that he tricked himself into believing in too. His mind cleared, and he let out a long breath of air. Shoulders relaxed, jaw slack, and his body spread out across his bed. He inhaled, listening to the sound of wind blowing stray leaves outside. He exhaled, the sound of his ceiling fan taking away any silence.

A stray thought entered his mind then. Such a thought that in daylight the would hunch his shoulders, but after a emotionally exhaustive day, he was in a mood for contemplation.

How did Takumi feel?

Leo wasn’t close to the other on any personal basis, but they weren’t strangers nor acquaintances. The best word that came to mind was  _ rival _ , but it felt strange to label it something so trivial. Leo and Takumi had played against each other since elementary school. Their families have known each other for years, longer than some of Leo’s current friendships. 

Takumi received a concussion little more than a week prior, and for as bad as it looked, Leo knew that Takumi could be coming back sooner than anyone expected. Yet, was Takumi still plagued with thoughts of uselessness? On the very same night he was concussed, did he feel he let his team down?

Leo let these questions roam in his head, but kept an iron grip on one he refused to think about so late at night.. Why was he thinking about Takumi?

* * *

 

**A/n: this is a scene where Leo goes to Valla High School to scout. Runs into Takumi.**

 

The Valla gym definitely reeked of New School. The court floors were freshly waxed, none of the lights flickering or dim, and the bleachers actually looked clean. It was an out of body experience, and it made Leo feel self-conscious about the Nohr gym. Were they really that behind of the newer schools?

‘ _ Why the hell am I so ruffled by wooden floors and working lights! _ ’ Leo scolded himself. He crutched over to the bleachers opposite to the team benches, and took a seat on the front row corner. He leaned the crutches against the empty seat next to him, and took off his backpack.

Okay, time to help his team!

Leo took note of the Vallan warm up. It wasn’t that important skill-wise, but the way a team acted during warm-up spoke volumes about who they were as players. Leo scanned the players until he found the captain. 

Kamui was hard to describe. Leo had played against him more than with him, but it felt weird to say they weren’t teammates, but at the same time it felt weird to say they were friends. At the least, they were more familiar with each other than he and Xander were with the Hoshidan brothers. 

The twin sister was another story. Corrin was a huge part of Nohr’s basketball and volleyball teams, and Leo knew she and Camilla had grown incredibly close. Leo knew vague details about the twins, mostly rumors, but he heard that they had a difficult upbringing. Camilla was notorious for her comfort and doting, so two and two together made their closeness not so surprising.

As Leo set up his camera to record the game, his eyes fell to a certain silver-haired fellow.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Takumi was walking away from the ticket booth, and Leo prayed he wouldn’t have to talk to him. He was here to work, and truth be told he felt a small irritation build up in him from his defeat just days ago.

Leo fiddled with his camera, hoping that if he looked busy then Takumi would walk right on by, miss him or just ignore him. Anything, anything at all just don’t make Leo have a conversation-

“Leo?”

“Hello, Takumi,” Leo smiled in defeat. He looked up at the other and saw confusion in his eyes. Ah, right. As far as the other teams knew, a Nohr player was injured, but they never said who.

“What happened to you?” Takumi asked. He held curiosity in his eyes, the same ones that flashed down and tried to look for any external injuries on Leo. 

“Couldn’t tell you,” Leo said darkly. He was sick of that question. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. There was something wrong with his knee. Without any true cause. It just started hurting one day for the fell of it.

“Are you messing with me?” Takumi questioned, narrowing his eyes at Leo. “Sorry for asking a question.” 

Leo almost answered back with a retort of his own, but realized how rude he must have sounded. Leo considered Takumi his topmost rival, besides Xander but that was more of a sibling thing, so even if they weren’t “friends” per say, they were familiar with each other. They were off the court now, and not even at a game affiliated with either of them.

Oh, and maybe Leo could pick up some details about Takumi’s recovery timeline, for future reference of course.

“I’m sorry, that came out wrong,” Leo began. “I don’t have a proper diagnosis yet.” Takumi paused at his words. The pretense of their rivalry was all that seemed to define them to each other, so was it possible to have a conversation? It was a simple conversation.

“That’s bad to hear, but maybe it was just a muscle strain, yeah? You’ll be back in time for our next game,” Takumi said.

* * *

**A/n: Leo goes to a Hoshido game. He and Takumi are friends at this point I guess?**

Leo liked to believe he was used to using his crutched body and mobility. Not only could he go at a decent speed backwards, but he had the constant pleasure of holding heavy doors open for himself and trying to crutch through before he lost balance or they closed on him. Really, he was completely okay. He didn’t need some stupid freshmen or a loud mom too busy with her phone call to help him. Him. A young man on crutches with a probable meniscus tear.

Leo hated the rudeness of people. Truly.

Despite his great internal woes with the rudeness of people, Leo look forward to the main event of his night. The Hoshido-Valla game. He told Xander that catching this game on film would be great for future reference against their greatest opponents. But there was another thing that dragged him to the game.

After their conversations at the Valla game, Leo felt some sort of kinship with Takumi. Once they broke past the initial “years of playing against each other has made us hate each other” shtick, they both found out how similar they were. Leo would say that they entered the gym enemies, but left as friends.

Takumi and he shared similar situations, their family structures alike, but he himself was something Leo didn’t quite understand. Or, it was more like he wanted to know more. There was a draw to him, something Leo had felt at times when they played, but he couldn’t quite name it.

Takumi had actually first told Leo about the game, and he said that the game was sure to be intense. Old established school versus new school- more importantly, the personal level of the team facing off against ex-teammates.

Leo decided to do a surprise for Takumi, and explained that he most likely wouldn’t be able to go because Nohr had a game that night. However, Leo knew that the opponent of the night was nothing short of atrocious, and knew Xander would be pleased if Leo instead went to a game such as the Hoshido-Valla one.

It was going to be a huge game, and Leo knew this, but he failed to realize that he was now limited in where he could sit. The stands were packed. For such a new school, Valla certainty held a lot of school spirit. Kamui was also great at getting people to gather, so that was no doubt a part of it. But that provided a huge problem to Leo. There were no seats for him. The first row was a go to, the second row was second best, and third row was worst case. All around the gym, the first three rows were filled.

Sudden shame filled him. He felt like such a bother and he hadn’t even crutched more than a foot into the gym. He didn’t want to displace someone that had righteously earned their seat. Shame was quickly replaced with pride. He would simply stand next to the bleachers. No problem. 

He began trekking along the baseline, keeping his eyes in front and low as to not trip over anything or anyone, and was left unaware of the gaze that followed him to where he stood by the end of the stands.

Leo watched the teams warm up. There was only 6 minutes left, so by now it was mostly stretching and shooting around on both sides. Takumi was on the same half-court side Leo stood at, but he was at the other corner, shooting from the three-point line. After the shot up went, the ball rebounded in Leo’s direction. Panic filled him. He couldn’t move! The ball came closer, thankfully on the ground, and Leo tried to maneuver his crutches to stop the roll. In more or less a success, the ball was safely kept in front of Leo between his crutches.

“Leo! You made it, great!” Takumi smiled bright and picked up his ball.

“Yeah, managed to escape Xander for the night,” Leo joked, giving a soft smile of his own. Takumi made to turn around, needing to return to warm-ups, but paused and did a double take.

“Leo, do you need help getting a seat?”

Leo felt his face heat up, and tried his best to keep the fluster out of his voice, “no, I’m actually going to stand. Build the arm muscles.”

* * *

**A/n: yeah sorry. some stuff happened. i moved. quit basketball. bad memories with it now and i don't wanna write this anymore. sorry to my 2 fans :(**

**im leaving this account but if there are any questions then i can answer some ? i doubt anyone will open a discontinued fic but eh. see yall.**

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work for fates, and I hope I don't have atrocious characterization. Worst case is some of me bled into this. Sorry for the injury Leo!! Knees suck!  
> Talk to me on twitter! twitter.com/haiba_alisass


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